Auckland’s architectural Side

Actually Wellington is the capital, but when it comes to business and logistics then Greater Auckland pulls all strings and due to its international airport for tourists this metropolis is to boot the gateway number one to cross into New Zealand, hence for many people in the world this city makes the initial contact. Auckland’s down town is pretty much compact and an area of high housing density. When watched from far away distance by the help of a super tele lens, Auckland’s skyline and its facades offer a variety of interesting details, not to mention the spectacle when they reflect in rain puddles. Most dominating among those skyscrapers is the Sky Tower, from where you can see Auckland’s volcanic history.

It is quite a spectacle when Emirates’ A380 approaches Auckland and on some days even three of those beasts arrive within 30 minutes only. I, who actually booked British Airways and became of victim of the Brits’ complete inability, sit in one of those giants, eagerly awaiting a long flight coming to an end. I have to stay two days in Auckland as I missed my connection flight to Tonga. However, I am where I wanted to be to start my travel.

Weather-wise Auckland‘s summer of 2014 is an up and down like Dow Jones back in fiscal crisis times and it’s got nothing in common with last year’s sunshine opulence; on one day there’s a chance to get sunburn, on the three following days there’s only rain and things get washed away. All in all the cyclone season 2014 in the South Pacific was much stronger and much more devastating than in previous years. Look Yankees, that is the climate change you’re constantly denying.

At first glance suchlike bad weather doesn’t really invite to take photos, at the second glance clouds and cloud gaps can add something very dramatic though, a lesson I learnt when visiting the volcanoes of Kamchatka. And indeed it looks everything but uninteresting when the tip of Sky Tower shrouds itself in low hanging clouds or when the rain leaves puddles behind in which the whole skyline mirrors marvellously at sunset.

Fortunately the clouds in the sky aren’t immovable and provide the one or another gap letting the sun shine through; something a pied shag at the Auckland waterfront enjoys a lot and also the red-billed gulls lounge on the jetty pillars in the sun as if it would be an armchair. Of the human presence on the pier they take as much recognition as the US does respect the personality rights of other countries.

Like elsewhere the harbour is a place of intensive bustle: ferries bring people from A to B, sail ships cut through the waves, helicopters cut through the air while in the far distance people talk a walk on top of the harbour bridge towards the large New Zealand flag.

Actually I wanted to portrait Auckland from the roof tops of the one or another skyscraper, but no chance. The security really wanted to help me but there is something else that keeps me away from reaching my goal: that is OSH, New Zealands “wonderful” insurance for general safety, not only occupation-wise as safety regulations don’t let me get on top of any tall building. Hence I make the best out of the situation and deliver you the standard view of Auckland as seen from Sky Tower.

Having a big super tele lens with me I can portray Auckland a little bit different though. However, sadly that brings some weirdos to the scene as well and it’s no surprise that someone from Germany means to say loudly without knowing what I am doing, that (quotation) only bigheads have such lenses. A super tele isn’t surely primarily made for city scapes, but working out interesting details can’t be really wrong; something that this guy maybe was pretty jealous of ;-)